Hi everybody! This is my GE-RI 829, a "real" clone of Petromax 829. GE-RI was a registered trademark of Franz Heinze KG, Wuppertal (Germany) and existed from 1958 to 1999. Unfortunately, further informations about this brand are not available.
@FrankBL That's a nice piece. Do you have an estimate, how many of these have been produced?? Because they seem to be rare.
Unfortunately, I don't know how many lamps were produced in total and I also don't know the production period. You can hardly find any information. But it's true: it's sure a rare lantern...
Did you have newer information, or just the information from my website 500hk.de? It would be very interesting if there are some news.
Although I have no further information, but I have contacted the successor company (Heinze Metallwarenmanufaktur e. K.) and asked whether the company archive contains further informations. I am currently waiting for an answer.
This operating manual for a GE-RI is in four languages : German,English,French and Indonesian. GE-RI GE = GErmany RI = Republic of Indonesia
It looks to be great condition. I've not heard about this name. Must be pretty rare, even around my area in Southeast Asia. Possibly, an exclusive export model for the Indonesian market?
Hello Reinhard, even though I appreciate your research skills, you are unfortunately completely wrong about the brand name GE-RI. GE-RI had been a registered trade mark for Heinze razor blades since the 1920s. At the end of the 1950s, Heinze registered this trade mark again. Not for any lamps, however, but for incandescent mantles, brass spare parts for paraffin cookers and pressure gauges. GE-RI has nothing to do with Indonesia, that is pure coincidence Greetings Jörg Here is another reference to the Heinze company and its razor blades: GE-RI Rasierklingen / GE-RI razor blades
This is a pressure lamp,not razor blades or other metal goods.The documents shown do not prove that a pressure lamp was manufactured. I can see from all the components that this lamp pictured was not manufactured in Germany.She looks like an Asian Petromax. I think the ambiguity of the GE-RI brand name was not a coincidence but intentional.They were looking for something that would be well received in Indonesia and they agreed on GE-RI. Of course Indonesia has something to do with the GE-RI pressurelamp-certainly as a marketplace and perhaps even as a manufacturing country.
Jörg's arguments sound convincing, especially as he also shows a proof that leads to a manufacturer of pressure lamps. But all the external components of my GE-RI are made of magnetic sheet metal, which rather points to the Far Eastern origin.
Maybe somebody could try to find out whether the brand GE-RI was registered in Indonesia or somewhere else in the Far East. To me, the lantern doesn't look like it was made by Casa Hipólito, which would most likely have been the case if it had been distributed by Heinze. Of course, it could also be that Heinze was looking for a manufacturer in the Far East to continue producing his lanterns. But then he would probably have continued to use the existing Geniol (or Petromax) brand.
Dear lamp friends, I would like to add some facts that I know (as far as you can call them that). My GE-RI is definitely an Asian production. When I got it (NOS), the thread on the lower part of the carburetor was broken off. I managed to repair it. With this flaw, I looked at 5 of my Asian lamps (Sea-Anchor, Anchor etc.). The lower part of the carburetor is identical on all of them. Not only that, a large part of the lamp parts are almost identical to those of my GE-RI. My guess is that there may be / have been some physical manufacturing companies that were limited to a few suppliers in Asia. The "Germany" on the tank, however, suggests that some of the assumptions to be read on the Internet are that Heinze KG was the distributor or the owner of the brand name. I am at least assuming this for the time being until there is concrete evidence to suggest otherwise. But I am also very interested in other opinions!!! Where exactly the lamp was produced or assembled is something our lamp friends in Asia can find out, if only for linguistic reasons. Unless you can find further concrete information of a structural or written nature.
Dear lamp friends, I would like to add some facts that I know (as far as you can call them that). My GE-RI is definitely an Asian production. When I got it (NOS), the thread on the lower part of the carburetor was broken off. I managed to repair it. With this flaw, I looked at 5 of my Asian lamps (Sea-Anchor, Anchor etc.). The lower part of the carburetor is identical on all of them. Not only that, a large part of the lamp parts are almost identical to those of my GE-RI. My guess is that there may be / have been some physical manufacturing companies that were limited to a few suppliers in Asia. The "Germany" on the tank, however, suggests that some of the assumptions to be read on the Internet are that Heinze KG was the distributor or the owner of the brand name. I am at least assuming this for the time being until there is concrete evidence to suggest otherwise. But I am also very interested in other opinions!!! Where exactly the lamp was produced or assembled is something our lamp friends in Asia can find out, if only for linguistic reasons. Unless you can find further concrete information of a structural or written nature. The brand name is also not GE-RI but GE (a middle dot) RI.
Sorry that I posted twice! And that too, the discussion was already here, please see here: Rare lantern, Petromax clone?
I have to correct myself! I made a big mistake with the GE-RI carburetor base. I apologize very much! Instead of verifying, I followed my conviction. I started cleaning the GE-RI today. In the process I realized my mistake and also that both the jet and needle are stamped with Petromax. Either a very elaborate forgery or connections to Germany? Please make up your own mind, I'm out and please don't judge me.
The jet and needle are always replaceable, so it might not count. I wouldn't be too surprised if the lantern was produced in the Eastern or Southeastern parts of Asia. It isn't particularly easy to find solid evidence as there had been many unknown manufacturing factories that can produce it for any brands around here.
Yes, the stamping on the nozzle and needle are certainly not proof. 99% proof would be if Heinze KG were to reply that they had ordered the lamp here or there in the 1980s; or if someone could find the manufacturer (in writing). Whether Indonesia, Portugal, China or somewhere else entirely. But since both seem unlikely, it will probably remain a mystery with its Geniol and Anchor components, some of which are very identical. In my opinion, however, she could never have achieved this level of interest due to her technical value.
